President
Seeks More Than $1.3 Billion for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in
2005 Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2004

Contact:Nicholas Throckmorton, 202-208-5634

President George W. Bush
is requesting more than $1.3 billion -- $22.6 million more than last
year for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service's 2005 budget. The request represents
the administrations continuing commitment to protect Americas natural
resources and support conservation partnerships in communities across
the country.

Among the key features of
this budget package are an increase for partnership and cost-share grant
programs under the Presidents Cooperative Conservation Initiative and
$2 million for a new Science Excellence Initiative. Budget increases
for hatcheries and migratory bird programs help to round out a package
that will allow the Service to conserve, with its partners, the nature
of America.

"President Bush's budget
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illustrates his continued strong
commitment to protect and conserve our nations fish and wildlife and
its habitat," said Interior Secretary Gale Norton. "In particular,
the budget significantly boosts funding to support partnerships with
states, tribes, local communities, private landowners and others to
protect and enhance our fisheries, recover species, and increase opportunities
for Americans to enjoy our public lands."

New funding in the 2005 budget
to support the Cooperative Conservation Initiative includes:

An increase
of $20.4 million for a total of $50 million for Landowner Incentive
Grants that provide state and tribal fish and wildlife agencies grant
funds needed to establish or expand habitat protection and restoration
programs on private land for "at risk" species.

An increase
of $2.6 million for a total of $10 million for Private Stewardship Grant
programs that provide cost-share grants to landowners for wildlife conservation.

An increase
of $10.9 million for a total of $80 million for the State and Tribal
Wildlife Grants Fund that aids wildlife conservation on State and Tribal
lands.

An increase
of $16.5 million for a total of $54 million for the North American Wetlands
Conservation Fund that provides matching grants to private or public
organizations and individuals to carry out wetlands conservation projects
in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Increases
of $8.4 million for a total of $90 million for the Cooperative Endangered
Species Conservation Fund that helps states increase participation in
a wide array of voluntary conservation projects for candidate, proposed
and listed species. The states award these funds to private landowners
and groups for conservation projects.

Increases
of $2.2 million for a total of $12 million for the National Wildlife
Refuge System's Challenge Cost Share program that provides grants that
match federal and private funds for conservation projects on refuges.

New funding
of $5 million for the High Plains Partnership under the Partners for
Fish and Wildlife programs. This is a public-private collaboration initiated
to pro-actively conserve declining species and their habitats and preclude
the need for further species listings. The 2005 requested increase will
allow the Service to pursue this effort with state fish and game agencies
in the 11 high plain states, agencies within the Department of Agriculture,
private conservation organizations and private landowners. Sage grouse
conservation efforts will receive $300,000 of this money. The Upper
Klamath Basin Restoration, another conservation initiative, will receive
an increase of $6.2 million. The initiative will fund habitat restoration,
removal of fish migration barriers, land acquisition and diminish the
likelihood of water crises.

An increase
of $2.9 million for a total of $13.1 million for Coastal Programs grants
for on-the- ground conservation of wetlands and tidal lands. Controlling
invasive species will be a significant focus of this program in 2005.

"The most effective
conservation projects are the ones that are conceived and carried out
at the local level, by the people who live and work on the land,"
Norton said. "Our goal is to empower the American people to become
citizen-conservationists, working together to achieve what the government
alone cannot achieve."

The budget request of $2
million for the Science Excellence Initiative is one of Director Steve
Williams priorities. Science excellence is the foundation for all of
the Services work. Through this initiative, the Service will be taking
many steps to increase our ability to acquire and apply science in the
conservation of the nations fish and wildlife resources. The budget
for this initiative is divided up into two components. One million dollars
will be used to shape new approaches to the science of natural resource
conservation. The remainder will be used to bolster the resources of
our partners to help the Service better shape the direction of conservation
efforts and to meet the changing needs of science-based conservation.

The ever-escalating complexity
of natural resource conservation demands scientific information that
is rigorous, timely and relevant. This initiative supports the underpinnings
of good science, promotes good decision making, and supports continuous
learning and professional development, as well as stronger partnerships
with other Federal or state natural resource agencies, non-profit organizations,
and private industry, Williams said.

Other notable parts of the
Services 2005 budget:

The Migratory
Bird Management program would receive more than a $4.5 million increase
for permits and monitoring. This will be an important step towards identifying
and meeting the needs of the program. An increase of $1.2 million, for
a total of $11.4 million for the North American Waterfowl Management
Plan will help manage waterfowl as well as the 15 Joint Ventures around
the country. This successful model for achieving migratory bird conservation
goals through cooperation and consultation with partners has increased
the interest and number of potential partnerships.

The Endangered
Species program will receive an extra $5.0 million, for a total of more
than $17.2 million, in its listing budget to alleviate the backlog in
dealing with new listings and critical habitat designations. This program
has been subject to a great deal of litigation in recent years, particularly
in regards to designation of critical habitat for already listed species.
This increase will address litigation-driven workloads and should also
provide additional funding to address other high-priority actions that
are not the subject of litigation.

An increase
of nearly $1 million for a total of nearly $16.9 million will help address
maintenance needs at national fish hatcheries. The budget also provides
an increase of $1 million for hatchery operations, for a total of $40.1
million.

The National
Wildlife Refuge Systems Law Enforcement budget would increase more than
$3 million.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving,
protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats
for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages
the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses
more than 542 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands
and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish
hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 ecological services field
stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the
Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores
nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation
efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds
of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment
to state fish and wildlife agencies.